Home · Faith · Oct 5 archive
Pope Leo Receives Fulton Sheen Relic from Peoria Bishop
Confirmed
In Short: Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria presented Pope Leo XIV with a relic of Blessed Fulton Sheen during a Vatican audience.
Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, presented Pope Leo XIV with a relic of the recently beatified Blessed Fulton Sheen during a private audience at the Vatican on October 5.
The meeting was an opportunity for Bishop Tylka to update Pope Leo on the Church in the United States, according to Chieko Noguchi, spokesperson for the USCCB.
For Bishop Tylka, the moment was especially moving, as both he and Pope Leo are from Illinois.
Archbishop Thomas G. Coakley, also in Rome, will participate in the Oct. 7-14 meeting on marriage and family convened by Pope Leo.
Pope Leo expressed fond memories of watching Archbishop Sheen on television as a child and remarked that he would have liked to attend the beatification.
Jason Gray, executive director of the Peoria-based Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation, also took part in the papal audience.
"The Holy Father's own interest in Archbishop Sheen reminds us that his witness continues to speak to the Church today and challenges all of us to proclaim the Gospel with the same conviction and joy," Archbishop Coakley added.
Bishop Tylka expressed his gratitude for the permission to celebrate the beatification of Fulton Sheen, noting Sheen's advocacy for the poor and his commitment to mission work around the globe.
"Dear brothers and sisters, we thank our loving God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who has gathered us as a family of faith on the solemn occasion of the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen — son of Illinois, son of the United States of America, son of the world!" Cardinal Tagle said to increasing applause.
Blessed Sheen became the first U.S.-born bishop to be declared blessed, with his great-nephew Paul Cunningham reading a short biography of his life.
"First, the missionary evangelizer is truly blessed, fortunate and happy because of the gift of communion with Jesus," Cardinal Tagle said in his homily.
"Above all, thanks be to God. It is through His providence that we have been brought to this historic moment," Cardinal Tagle concluded.
What this adds
The pope's first private audience of the day was with the U.S. bishops, including Bishop Tylka.
The Engstrom family presented a reliquary containing Blessed Sheen’s relic during the beatification ceremony.
Blessed Sheen's beatification took place at a Mass at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis.
Background
Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria presented Pope Leo XIV with a relic of Blessed Fulton Sheen during a private audience at the Vatican.
Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Peoria, Illinois, following Archbishop Fulton Sheen's beatification in St. Louis.
What's confirmed
- "To place a relic of this son of the Diocese of Peoria into the hands of the first American pope, both of whom are from Illinois, was an especially moving moment," Bishop Tylka said in a statement following the papal audience.
- Chieko Noguchi, USCCB spokesperson, told OSV News that the meeting was an opportunity to update Pope Leo on the Church in the United States.
- "The USCCB is grateful for the opportunities that our bishops have to spend time with our Holy Father and assure him of our support and prayers," she said.
- While in Rome, Archbishop Coakley will participate in the Oct. 7-14 meeting on marriage and family convened by Pope Leo, who called the heads of national bishops' conferences worldwide as well as the heads of Eastern Catholic Churches to the event, titled "Ten Years After 'Amoris Laetitia': Proclaiming the Gospel With Families Today."
- VATICAN CITY (OSV News) -- Bishop Louis Tylka of Peoria, Illinois, presented Pope Leo XIV with a relic of the recently beatified Blessed Fulton Sheen during a private audience at the Vatican Oct.
- The pope also received 75-year-old Archbishop Thomas G.
- For the bishop of Peoria, the opportunity to give the Chicago-born pope the relic was "a profound joy and privilege," especially because of Pope Leo's personal interest in Blessed Fulton Sheen, who was beatified in St.
- "The Holy Father's own interest in Archbishop Sheen reminds us that his witness continues to speak to the Church today and challenges all of us to proclaim the Gospel with the same conviction and joy," the archbishop added.
- Jason Gray, the executive director of the Peoria-based Archbishop Fulton J.
- Sheen Foundation, also took part in the papal audience.
- "I felt that Archbishop Sheen was with us in spirit when greeting Pope Leo," Msgr.
- "I am grateful that Pope Leo spoke so fondly of Archbishop Sheen, whom he remembered watching when he was young." Pope Leo has previously praised Blessed Fulton Sheen as "a light of faith, hope and love that shone through the radio and television media for decades," as his broadcasts brought the Gospel to millions of Americans.
What's still developing
- The Engstrom family, the family of James Fulton Engstrom whose miraculous healing as a baby was the verified miracle required for Blessed Sheen’s beatification, presented a reliquary containing Blessed Sheen’s relic.
- “We are grateful for the heroic witness of this great evangelist, who dedicated his life to the proclamation of the Gospel and the support of the missions,” said Bishop Tylka, wearing one of Blessed Sheen’s pectoral crosses.
- Video displays showed Blessed Sheen’s tomb at the Cathedral of St.
- “Blessed is the evangelizer converted by beholding and touching the wounds of the risen Christ in wounded brothers and sisters,” he said.